New Leaves: The Next Generation
by DigiFawks
Summary: New threats have arisen to threaten the Shinobi World again. Will the small leaves inherit the same will of fire the Third spoke of?


Chapter 1: It all begins…

Night towered over the village of Konoha. The moon, in full circle, shone down on it much like it did on the Alliance all those years ago, when the greatest battle in the Shinobi history was fought. All seemed peaceful, but there was a certain tension in the air that none of the patrolling ninja could quite put their fingers on. It was as if the village was secretly preparing itself for an incoming storm.

The tension was being radiated out of the Hokage Tower. The lit office on the top floor seemed like the only light in the darkened village as it showed Uzumaki Naruto pacing back and forth, looking angry and irritated. His son was not too far away from that window, perched upon the branch of the closest tree, and hidden cleverly amongst the leaves, so he too can listen in on the conversation taking place between the hokage and his trusted Head of the ANBU unit, Uchiha Sasuke.

"But I don't trust him!" Naruto yelled out.

"Don't then." Came the simple reply from his long time comrade.

Naruto stared at Sasuke. Just what did he want him to do? Naruto never had a hard time reading other people's minds; he had a knack for it. But it was matters like this which made him wish that he just didn't have to solve these riddles to get an answer.

Seeing Naruto mentally struggle so much over his suggestion, Sasuke continued, "You're equating trust with acceptance, Naruto. Politics just doesn't work that way."

"Politics…" Naruto muttered the word as if it was dirty. He ran his hand through his hair.

Sasuke leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands together, "Suzuki Mashiro has built a hospital and a hotel, he created job opportunities for the civilians and is well on his way to build a university which would be free from any kind of Shinobi teachings. I don't like him either, Naruto, but the people do. If you go against the people's wishes, they'll see you as the enemy and him as their savior. So I suggest you keep him happy in order to keep your place as the Hokage."

Naruto's frown deepened and he stared down at the wooden floor board, deep in thought.

* * *

It was three in the morning, Masato reminded himself. He should be sleeping like all the other thirteen year olds of the village at this time. But his stubbornness wouldn't let him. He adjusted himself on his perch, his chakra skillfully suppressed enough to fool the Hokage and the Head of the ANBU unit, he proudly thought.

Masato's eyes narrowed as he watched his father trying to decode the meaning behind Sasuke's words. How could he sleep when something so big was going on? Masato quickly learned that he would have to be very informed about the current affairs of Konoha if he was going to surpass six generations of Hokage.

Yes, everyday was crucial and important for Masato. He couldn't afford to waste one day of his life, always pushing himself to the limit at every test and obstacle. Only thirteen years old and he had already burdened himself with a grown mans problems. But he wasn't going to regret it, he was sure. Like his father and his grandfather, he was not willing to die as a nobody and especially not as the son of the greatest Hokage.

He smirked, no, he was going to surpass his father and become Hokage.

But as he heard Sasuke talk, his smirk quickly melted away and gave way to a frown. Suzuki Mashiro. He had met the man at the opening ceremony of the new hospital where the Hokage and his family was invited too. Suzuki was a fat man, Masato scowled, remembering him. His tiny eyes and his fat, balding head had immediately spelled "shady" to him. And the way the man had looked at his mother as he asked her to join him, even Masato, aged only ten then, could tell that there was something dirty about that gaze.

His mother, though, had declined Suzuki's offer of leaving Konoha's Civil Hospital much to his father's joy.

If this guy was going to stand in his way or in the way of his father, for that matter, he will have to do something about it personally. But for now, the need for sleep was taking its toll on the blonde boy and as he yawned, his ears pricked up at the sound of Naruto's voice.

"Sasuke, I'm gunna head home now."

Masato froze, eyes widening. "Oh shit."

"Alright." Sasuke nodded.

Naruto grabbed his coat off his chair and left.

Meanwhile, Masato was scrambling off the tree and running to the streets. Sasuke turned his head towards the window, having sensed leaves rustling. A smirk played on his lips, wondering if the boy could beat his father to the Hokage manor.

* * *

Naruto reached his house within a minute. The feat had become nothing more than an everyday action now. Covering almost half the village to his home in a few seconds came as naturally to him as walking now. Naruto had come a long way from being a snot nosed, lowly genin. He sighed as he unlocked the door and entered, heading to the kitchen for a glass of water. Long way indeed.

As he poured the water in to a glass, Narutos eye brows tugged into a frown. Suzuki Mashiro was out to get him, he knew. The other man had never said that and always seemed quite friendly to him but Naruto knew better. Mashiro would always give him vibes, hints of enmity. Sasuke was right, Mashiro might be planning to over throw him and take over. The man reminded him eerily of Gatou, the business tycoon he helped the mist village defeat on one of his first ever genin missions.

Mashiro was a 50 year old man who had hit it off great in the business world. The first time Naruto saw him was when he was in a meeting about whether or not he should shelter the refugee Ayanamei family who had fled from the Northern Mountains to escape their deaths. Shikamaru had then introduced him as one of the richest men in the village who had just been inducted into the lower levels of the council. How had Naruto missed that?

Back then, as Naruto announced his decision to shelter the small Ayanamei family, Mashiro had protested greatly, he had said that it will bring about the village's destruction and nothing else by letting in strange out siders from an unknown land. Naruto had easily silenced him then.

But now Mashiro's voice was growing louder and louder and gaining support too. So as Naruto went up the stairs tiredly, he wondered just how much in jeopardy was his Hokage seat. Konoha, along with the rest of the world, was going through a peaceful era. Missions weren't dangerous and there were almost no casualties. Everything was just how his father and Jiraya had imagined but now a new sort of threat had come up that could also destroy the Shinobi World.

It was peace.

The reason his value as the Hokage was diminishing was peace. There wasn't any threat to protect the village from and people had long forgotten the Third, Great Shinobi War after all these years. Now he was just a guy who stamped boring paper work all day and took decisions on the village's economy and agriculture. What if there was someone who was better than him at that. Maybe Mashiro?

No, he can't just admit defeat like this, he worked hard to get to the place he was in now and he won't just hand it all over to that man. There was something wrong with Suzuki Mashiro, Naruto didn't know what it was but he knows there is something and he'll be right there to catch him if he slips up!

Naruto had been staring at the darkened hallway for quite some time now but as he was about to move forward, another dark thought occurred to him.

What if he stages a conflict?

It was possible, with the right planning and the right place, he could be a hero aga-

Th e blonde Hokage's eyes widened and he took a couple of steps back, panting a little. Just what was he thinking? Was he clinging on to the Hokage seat so desperately as to hurt his own people? His own men? He leaned against the wall, steadying himself. Naruto closed his eyes and cleared his mind. He would never do that, even if he loses everything he wouldn't do that. From the deepest realms of his mind, a lowly chuckle echoed.

"Tch." Kurama, the nine tailed fox inside him, was finding these thoughts highly amusing, Naruto thought in annoyance.

He straightened up and walked ahead, pushing any kind of politics out of his mind. He was just tired, Naruto told himself. All he needed was some sleep and- he stopped by a door, his head turning towards it.

He opened it quietly, smiling a little. He had almost forgotten to pay his children a visit even if they were asleep. He chuckled as he made out the form of his daughter, lying spread eagled on the bed. Walking over he realized just how much his daughter went on him even with her pink hair and heart shaped face.

Uzumaki Sachiko was deep asleep with her leg inside the blankets while the other was splayed out across the mattress. Her arm was also spread across the bed but the other was securely curled around a panda plushie. In fact her room had all sorts of panda-trinkets and panda toys. Sachiko's mouth was slightly open too and Naruto can just barely make out the trickle of drool at the corner of it. When Naruto slept, he slept just like this, but he was only louder and messier.

He leaned over and started tucking her back in. He pushed her short messy hair out of the way and kissed her forehead. How he had forgotten all of his troubled thoughts just at the sight of his 13 year old daughter, sleeping so peacefully will forever be a mystery to him but he had never planned to find out anyways either.

* * *

Naruto straightened and with one last look at Sachiko, he headed for his sons room.

Masato entered the house the same way he left it: his bedroom window. He climbed in to his room, it had taken him 15 minutes to get back but he figured that it had only taken Naruto one minute. Masato sighed, he hoped with all his might that his father would be tired enough to just go to bed and not notice that he was gone but his hoping was soon proved futile.

"Welcome back, son." Naruto chuckled; he had been sitting on Masato's bed all this time.

The younger blond paled. How long had his father been waiting? He walked over to his bedside table and turned on the lamp, illuminating the room dimly. "Da-dad! I was- errr… I was just- !"

"Spying on the Hokage?" Naruto smirked at his fidgeting son.

"I wasn't spy—" Masato's eyes widened in realization. "You knew?" He asked in bewilderment, he had thought that he had him and Sasuke fooled!

Naruto grinned triumphantly, reaching out, he ruffled Masato's hair. "You still have a long way to go, kid!"

Masato just huffed, folding his arms, disappointed in himself.

Naruto sighed, while Sachiko took after him in terms of personality and even studies, Masato had turned out to be the complete opposite. He was so much like his mother, Sakura. The will to push himself to the edge and the need to make something out of himself was just like her. Naruto figured a long time ago that the fiery glint that he saw in his sons emerald green eyes was more from his mother then him. That glint only grew stronger and more prominent when Masato decided to surpass all the Hokages. People may think that it's impossible but Naruto knew better then to doubt his own son.

"I'm sorry for missing the last training session." Naruto's smile faltered a little. Masato had more potential than he did when he was his age; it was a shame that he can't be there to mould that potential. His Hokage duties kept him from spending time with his family, there had been many times when he had disappointed his kids but he would try to make it up to them whenever he can.

"It's okay, dad. With everything going around the village, you can miss one or two." Masato grinned cheekily as he sat down next to him.

"So how much did you hear?" Naruto asked, smiling at him.

Masato frowned. "Almost all of it".

"I see." Naruto sighed as he looked down, running his hand through his hair, an act which he had constantly repeated throughout the night.

"Dad, that Suzuki guy ain't got nothing on you! You're the greatest Hokage that ever lived! People love you!" Masato told him. He hoped that his words had gotten through to him. He hated seeing his father so troubled.

"Daijobu, Masato!" Naruto grinned. "I know that! Suzuki isn't a nice guy, but people like him… they are always bound to slip up. It's just a waiting game; I won't let anything happen to this village." He stared ahead as if he had finally reached a conclusion.

Masato's eyes widened a little. He noticed the change in his father, he had looked tired and defeated just a few minutes ago but now he looked determined and confident. This was the man Masato had grown to love and respect.

"So how come you're not sleeping, Masato? Don't you have an important orientation tomorrow?" Naruto asked, putting an arm around his son.

"Exactly! I can't sleep knowing I'm going to be a genin tomorrow! That's like one step closer to becoming Hokage! We're going to get sorted into teams too! Ne, Dad?" Masato smiled up at him. "I bet you know who my team mates are going to me."

Naruto laughed as he stood up, deciding it was time to leave. "You'll have to wait a little longer to find that out, son!"

"AAAWWWW! But Dad!" Masato groaned, falling back on his bed.

But as Naruto turned the door knob, opening the door, his triumphant grin fell away from his face, replaced by a horrified expression. "Sa- Sakura-chan!"

Sakura stood before him just, arms folded. Her eye twitched in annoyance and her pink locks flew behind her with dark energy. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" She asked slowly, not satisfied with the apology Naruto stuttered. Sakura looked over Naruto's shoulder and over to her son, who was now sitting upright on his bed, just as terrified as his father. "And where were you?" She snapped.

"Mom! I was errr- I was…" Masato mumbled.

"He was with me!" Naruto added.

"Ye- yeah! Training!"

"Training at 5 am in the morning?!" Sakura retorted, not buying it for a minute. She knew Masato had sneaked out again, no doubt for collecting precious Hokage intel. So as she began lecturing Naruto for being an irresponsible father and Masato for sneaking out so late in the morning, accompanied by well-earned smacks over their heads, Sakura may as well have woken up the whole neighborhood with her rant about parenting and immaturity. So as the lights came on in the various houses around the Hokage Manor, Sachiko in the next room, slept on and never noticed a thing.


End file.
